Murder in Murray Hill (Gaslight Mystery) by Victoria Thompson Page A

don’t we go with you with the Maria?”
    Malloy nodded. “Let’s get Neth.”
    The other two officers followed Malloy upstairs while Donatelli waited with Sarah.
    “I’m so glad you were on duty today,” she said. Gino Donatelli had proved himself useful in several of the cases she had helped Malloy solve.
    “They always make the dagos work on Sunday.” As an Italian, Gino would be a minority on the mostly Irish police force.
    “I’m sorry,” Sarah said.
    “I’m not. I might’ve missed this.”
    She returned his boyish smile.
    The two other officers came clumping down the stairs with Neth between them. They’d replaced the curtain ties with handcuffs.
    “You can’t arrest me,” he was saying. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
    “We’ll be the judge of that,” one of them said, giving him a friendly shove that sent him stumbling down the last three steps.
    Donatelli caught him and set him on his feet again.
    Malloy was behind them with Joanna, and Maeve and Livingston brought up the rear.
    Gino’s face brightened. “Miss Smith, I didn’t know you were still here.”
    Maeve did not see fit to reply to this, although Sarah could tell she was pleased to be noticed.
    Malloy turned to her. “Maeve, will you make sure Mr. Livingston goes straight home and wait with him there until I come?”
    “I’m not going home,” Livingston said. “Not when Grace is so close.”
    “Mr. Livingston, we know what we’re doing. Let us do it.”
    “I know I ruined your plans earlier, but I won’t interfere this time, I swear. I’ll wait outside and stay out of your way, but I want to be there when you find her. I want to take her home.”
    Sarah knew exactly how he felt. “Maeve and I will make sure he doesn’t interfere.”
    “And who’s going to make sure you and Maeve don’t interfere?” Malloy asked in exasperation.
    One of the officers holding Neth made a noise that might have been a smothered laugh. Malloy sighed. “All right. Put Neth into the Paddy wagon and let’s go.”
    Malloy set out with Joanna, not waiting for the others. Gino easily caught up with them while his cohorts threw a protesting Neth into the Paddy wagon. One of them climbed up to drive while the other trailed after Malloy and the others on foot.
    Sarah and Maeve fell in on either side of Livingston, who didn’t acknowledge them with so much as a glance.
    Their odd procession was separated as oblivious pedestrians with their own destinations in mind failed to realize the two police officers and the other five oddly matched individuals belonged to the same group. Livingston set a brisk pace, determined not to lose them in the noisy streets. Behind them, lumbering along, came the large enclosed wagon known as a Black Maria, somehow managing to keep up in spite of the traffic.
    Luckily, Joanna had not lied about the distance. They’d gone only half a dozen blocks when she stopped and pointed.
    Malloy, Gino, and the other officer were discussing how best to approach the house when Sarah and her group reached them.
    “What are you waiting for?” Livingston demanded.
    Malloy gave him an impatient look. “If Pendergast suspects we’re onto him, he might kill Grace. Is that what you want?”
    Livingston blanched, and Sarah took his arm. “Let them do what they need to do,” she said, leading him a few steps away.
    Malloy glanced at Joanna, who seemed almost frightened now that they were here. “Gino, put her in the Maria, too.”
    “What! You never said anything about that!” she cried as Gino took her arm.
    “I wouldn’t want to lose track of you,” Malloy said. They waited while the protesting woman was locked into the wagon with Neth. “Sarah and Maeve, make sure Livingston stays here. You”—he pointed to the wagon driver—“make sure nobody lets them out of there.” To Gino and the other officer, he said, “Let’s go.”
    Sarah breathed a silent prayer as the three men approached the house halfway down the